A study of particulate extracts from 1980s heavy duty diesel engines run on steady-state and transient cycles

Interlaboratory comparisons of extraction and chemical characterization are reported for exhaust particulate from heavy-duty diesel engines, typical of the 1980s. This study is the final of a series conducted by member companies of the Coordinating Research Council on methods and measurements to expand knowledge about unregulated constituents of diesel-engine exhaust. Exhaust particulate from heavy-duty diesel engines of the 1980s averaged about 25 wt% extractable by methylene chloride. In engine-to-engine comparisons, the extractable fraction correlated with the ratio of total engine hydrocarbon to nonextractable carbon particulate. These comparative studies demonstrate methods for monitoring changes in the composition of diesel particulate that may occur as stringent emission standards are implemented in the 1990s.